US President Joe Biden says he will not send rocket systems to Ukraine that could hit targets well inside Russian territory, despite urgent requests from Kyiv for long-range weapons.
“We are not going to send to Ukraine rocket systems that can strike into Russia,” Biden tells reporters in Washington.
Pro-Western Ukraine has received extensive US military aid since Russia invaded in late February, but says it needs long-range rockets equivalent to those Moscow’s forces use.
Kyiv has asked the United States for mobile batteries of long-range rockets, the M270 MLRS and the M142 Himars, which can launch multiple rockets at the same time with a range of up to 187 miles (300 kilometers), eight times or more the distance of artillery in the field.
This could give Ukrainian forces the ability to reach, with great precision, targets far behind Russian lines, though it is unclear if that is their intent.
“If the West really wants Ukraine’s victory, maybe it is time to give us long-range MLRS?” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s adviser Mykhailo Podoliak tweeted recently.
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